Cool doings from the natural and human worlds

Richard Conniff

Reviews for Richard Conniff’s Books

Every Creeping Thing: True Tales of Faintly Repulsive Wildlife: “Conniff is a splendid writer–fresh, clear, uncondescending, and with never a false step; one can’t resist quoting him.” (NY Times Book Review)

The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth by Richard Conniff is “a swashbuckling romp” that “brilliantly evokes that just-before Darwin era” (BBC Focus) and “an enduring story bursting at the seams with intriguing, fantastical and disturbing anecdotes” (New Scientist). “This beautifully written book has the verve of an adventure story” (Wall St. Journal)

Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time by Richard Conniff is “Hilariously informative…This book will remind you why you always wanted to be a naturalist.” (Outsidemagazine)“Field naturalist Conniff’s animal adventures … are so amusing and full color that they burst right off the page … a quick and intensely pleasurable read.” (Seedmagazine) “Conniff’s poetic accounts of giraffes drifting past like sail boats, and his feeble attempts to educate Vervet monkeys on the wonders of tissue paper will leave your heart and sides aching. An excellent read.” (BBC Focus magazine)

How Do Plants and Animals Fare in Our Cities?

Humans are increasingly an urban species, and a new study, the largest dataset of its kind ever compiled, looks at how our cities perform as habitats not just for us, but for plants and animals. The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Here’s part of the BBC’s story on what it found:

The team analysed the data and found that cities retained about just 8% of bird species and 25% of plant species of comparable undeveloped land.

But [lead author Myla] Aronson added: “Contrary to popular belief, we show that the plants and birds of cities are not all the same across the world.

“Owing to the fact that cities around the world share similar structural characteristics – buildings, roads etc – it is thought that cities share a similar biota, no matter where they are in the world.

“Few species are shared across cities, such as pigeons and annual meadow grass, but overall, the composition of cities reflects the unique biotic heritage of their geographic location.”

She said the data revealed that, overall, cities supported close to 20% of the world’s bird species and 5% of known plant species.

Commenting on the study’s findings, Prof Philip James, of the University of Salford – who was not involved in the research – said that many cities grew in areas that were diverse and rich in natural resources, plants and animals.

“So the challenge is to use our knowledge of urban ecology to enrich the lives of the ever-increasing number of people living and working in cities,” he told BBC News.

“Seeing birds from our windows, hearing their songs and having pleasant, natural places to walk are all beneficial to our health and well-being.”

One Response to “How Do Plants and Animals Fare in Our Cities?”

Richard, we spent three months random sampling trees in a large urban area in an arid region and found many more species than were naturally present in the area (unpublished). Our null hyp. was that there would be fewer species. We speculated that water diversions and preferences of the residents might explain the increase.

I haven’t read the study you cited, but it might be that they saw wide variability across their city sample. Cities in mesic regions might have fewer tree species–they would certainly have fewer trees.